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Seemingly an eternity ago, I entered into a love triangle, splitting my gaze between the guy I was seeing and CrossFit. It wasn’t a relationship per se, but it was codependent, eager, and lustful in the way all Nicholas Sparks movies and soap operas are (rewatch and The Notebook or Dear John and then tell me I’m wrong).
We spent all of our time together: working out, debriefing our workouts, planning our next workouts, fueling for our workouts, and watching other people workout. Riveting, I know. Month after month, this went on and on, and I fell more and more in love with them both each day.
But then one day, said guy called it quits (for another girl at the gym, no less). I felt not only heartbroken and confused, but also like my relationship with CrossFit was in limbo, as well. Somewhere in the span of time we were seeing each other, my love for him had become indistinguishable from my love for CrossFit.
So, to actually get over my workout-buddy-slash-ex, I couldn’t just trudge through the emotional sludge and physical hurt of the break-up. I also needed to redefine my relationship with fitness, outside of him. Unsure of where to start, I called up my CrossFit coach Mike Ramirez, CF-L2, for advice. His number one suggestion? Start a fitness feelings journal.
“If you want to relate to fitness in a healthy and authentic way, then you need to connect to it mentally, emotionally, and spiritually as well,” says Mike Ramirez.
“If you want a relate to fitness in a healthy and authentic way, then you need to connect to it mentally, emotionally, and spiritually as well,” he told me. A fitness journal serves as a tool to keep you honest with yourself. It will show you where you started, where you have evolved, how you truly feel about fitness, and how you’re relating to it.”
To get the most out of the journal, Ramirez suggests simple prompts like: How did the workout make you feel? How is your body doing? What hurts? What should your focus be to fully recover? What made you feel powerful and strong? Are you feeling joy? Over the course of few months, those prompts helped me answer complex questions that allowed me to figure out how I liked to exercise apart from my ex. It allowed me to tap into specific moves to understand what I actually liked to do and what I was doing because of leftover emotion from my relationship.
I’ll admit, I’m still not completely over my ex. And I miss the intimacy of having my partner in life be my partner in workouts. But the fitness journal helped me realize that my love of CrossFit can (and does!) exist outside of ex.
So even now, after every workout I use Ramirez’s suggestion—which he recommends to all exercisers (not just the heartbroken ones, lol). “Just as that surge of dopamine hits, and you’re high on the endorphins, allow yourself to freely write. Whatever comes to a your mind post training, write it down.”
While I prefer a blank-slate when I journal after working out, if you’re the type who likes more specific prompts, instructions, or charts, try one of these twelve fitness journals. Whether you’re trying to get over an ex, crush your fitness goals, or develop a healthy relationship to exercise, Ramirez says they can help you get there.
Best Fitness Journals
Ban.do Wellness Planner — $20.00
Ban.do’s wellness planner helps track your physical wellness, but it also has sections intention, self-care, headspace, and nutrition, so you can feel your best in mind and body. Inside you’ll find advice from female experts, tear-out cards, activity trackers, blank spaces to take notes, and more.
Cossac Fitness Journal & Workout Planner — $21.00
Track your exercise with this compact planner, which can help you log daily goals, exercises and reps, progress over time, notes, and more. One reviewer said, “I’ve used this twice already and overall I absolutely love the workout tracker journal. The cover is really thick so you’ll be able to carry it around the gym without it damaging. The pages itself include everything where you can track your progress which is important to me because I’m trying to increase weight in all exercises over time. The pages include progress, cardio, sets, reps, weight, etc. It has everything.”
Fitlosophy Fitbook — $19.00
It can be hard to plan goals too far into the future, so this Fitbook lets you tackle 12-week goals. This spiral bound, hardcover notebook comes with a pen and has a sleeve to hold any notes or loose papers. There’s a daily food log to record nutrition, a daily workout page for activity like strength training, cardio, and classes. You can set weekly goals (and rewards, and you can also take down notes or things that motivate you.
Moleskin Wellness Journal — $23.00
Moleskin makes premium, versatile journals, and this one has a wellness theme to help you live your healthiest lifestyle. There are sections for fitness, diet, health & care, and personal goals, as well as themed stickers, an inner pocket, ribbon bookmarks, and 400 pages of room for planning.
Erin Condren Wellness Planner — $16.00
The cover of this planner says “Energy flows were attention goes,” to remind you that wellness doesn’t just happen by itself. There are tips inside on how to set achievable wellness goals, fun stickers, and pages to track your daily activity (nutrition, water intake, steps, hours slept) and monthly progress.
Blogilates 12 Week Fit Journal — $25.00
Inspired by Blogilates founder Casset Ho, this 12-week hardvoer fitness journal has pages to help you track food, activity, sleep, mood, and reflections. You can use it to plan your weekly grocery list and workouts of the day, and it comes with a ballpoint men and tape measure.
Papier Rise and Shine Wellness Journal — $25.00
In addition to recording your daily activity, sleep, water, and meals, this wellness planner goes over and beyond to make sure you start each day with the right mindset. You can use the pages to jot down daily intentions, self-care ideas, mood, feel-good goals, wish lists, and there’s extra room for thoughts, feelings, reflections, and gratitude.
Clever Fox Wellness Planner — $25.00
Whether you like to plan daily, weekly, monthly, or all over the above, this planner can help you do that. Set your top goals and action steps and rewards once you achieve them, and record your daily activity, mood, and nutrition. Each week and month you can do a review of your progress, opportunities for improvements, and biggest wins. It also comes with stickers, a pen loop, and an inner pocket.
NewMe Fitness Journal — $16.00
Created and approved by professional trainers, this journal will help you make the most of all your fitness sessions. There are diagrams of targeted exercises to help you plan out your workouts and you can keep track of reps, routines, and progress for 4-6 months.
Training for a Healthy Life: A Daily Food and Fitness Journal — $7.00
This food and fitness journal is an easy way to keep tabs on your daily healthy habits. You can set goals for the day and write down food, exercise, and wellness. Each week, you can check in on your progress and note areas where you’re satisfied or where you can improve. At the end of 13 weeks, you can compare your progress to where you started and set goals going forward.
Workout Log Gym Training Diary — $14.00
If you work out often, it may be hard to remember what exercises you did earlier in the week or when you should schedule another leg day. This diary lets you set up to six fitness goals and record 100 workouts with 11 exercises per session, plus note your reps, weights, and tempo, and cardio. You can also track your progress, body measurements, and personal bests on a weekly basis.
SaltWrap Daily Fitness Planner — $20.00
This detailed fitness planner will help you track your workouts, meals and nutrients, rest, and goals, but it will also help you rate your energy, joint health and mobility, and mindset/motivation each week to help you plan ahead.
Gone For a Run Day-by-Day Run Planner — $20.00
If you’re a runner, you know that sometimes the hardest part is just motivating to get moving. This planner has inspirational prompts and motivational quotes. It also has 140 pages to record your runs, including the weather, route, distance, and notes, and you can also log your goals, weekly and monthly mileage, races, and personal records.
Habit Nest The Weightlifting Gym Buddy Journal — $30.00
This planner might not be able to spot you while you’re lifting weights, but it will still make a great gym buddy. It has 65 workouts and sketches laid out, with each workout targeting two primary muscles groups, so there’s no guesswork involved in your next strength session. You can also track your intensity, reps performed, weights used, and any cardio you may have done.
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